This invention relates generally to identification and accountability systems, and in particular, to an identification and accountability system and method for firefighter personnel.
Information transfer and accountability systems may be used in any number of fields tasks where tracking personnel activity and location is important. Particular application is found in fields where individual personnel or teams of personnel operate in dangerous environments, or immediate danger to life and health (IDLH)environments. In such fields, it is advantageous to provide a system of tracking individual personnel locations, activities, etc.
Traditional firefighting accountability systems revolve around an individual Accountability Officer who monitors the positions of firefighters on-scene. The Accountability Officer may write down the name of or take an ID tag from a firefighter as he or she moves into the target area.
The drawbacks of traditional systems are apparent where multiple teams are quartered around a large target area. Manually tracking a large number of firefighters can be slow and is susceptible to error. Similarly, keyboard entry systems are too slow to be practically and reliably effective. Rapid response is often critical to containing the incident, and even temporary breakdowns in accountability can seriously hamper response efforts. The problem is compounded when team firefighters are separated from their group and end up regrouping with other teams at a point of access remote from the Accountability Officer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,612 to Daku describes an electronic accountability apparatus for timing and tracking multiple teams of personnel and equipment, including multiple timers visible on an interface apparatus, the timers pre-assigned by label to team members and controllable by pushbutton switches. The apparatus interface is provided as a large case designed to be set at a particular accountability station. The apparatus does enhance the Accountability Officer""s ability to track firefighters, but does not allow for entry of particular firefighter data, such as name, rank, unit number, etc. The apparatus also relies on accurate switch/keyboard manipulation by the Accountability Officer and does not provide for failsafe data entry.
One problem with the prior art systems is that it is extremely easy for a user to input incorrect information. A user is required to navigate several menus, scan particular codes or remember specific key stroke sequences to enter and/or activate the accountability apparatus. As a result a user may incorrectly select the wrong user or fail to activate a user in the system as users are moving to the scene. In addition, the amount of information that may be transferred by prior art systems is extremely limited.
An additional problem with the prior art concerns the systems that use a PC for downloading information to the instrument. In using such instruments it becomes burdensome to transport and safely store the PC while a user performs the underlying tasks suggested herein above. In addition the use of PC requires an increased skill level of an operator and increases the cost of the detection instrument system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,889 to Whalen Jr. et al. describes an accountability system including a bar code reader, a computer, a display and an alarm. The system is reliant on an ID badge printed with multiple bar codes containing different types of information. In such systems, a bar code reader is connected to a detection instrument, which is used to scan bar code labels pertaining to users and locations. Although bar code instruments eliminate some the problems present in other prior art detection systems, they too have many problems. One problem, similar to the PC systems, is that a bar code reader must be attached to and therefore transported along with, the instrument. Another problem is that the bar code labels typically do not withstand some of the harsh environments where these instruments are typically used. While such a system is helpful to scene accountability, there is a danger that the ID badges will be damaged by fire or smoke. Additionally, selection of and scanning of particular bar codes can be cumbersome under rapid response conditions with multiple firefighters. Reprogramming of bar coded labels cannot be performed in real-time and is also difficult. Indeed, reprogramming of bar code labels requires reprinting and relaminating, neither of which can be practically performed under rapid response conditions with multiple firefighters.
What is needed in the art is a reliable accountability and identification instrument and system that increases accuracy, system flexibility, ease of use, that decreases log in/out times and that functions well in harsh environments.
The above-described drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art are alleviated by the accountability and identification system of the present invention. The accountability and identification system comprises multiple touch sensors, each of which has information stored in a memory. At least one of the touch sensors is a personal identification touch sensor having user information on a unique user stored in the memory. The system also comprises at least one instrument. Each of the instruments includes a receptacle which momentarily receives the personal identification touch sensor to read the user information stored therein. Each instrument also includes a microprocessor in electrical communication with the receptacle. The microprocessor has a memory portion for storing operating software and the user information read by the receptacle. Each instrument further includes a display in electrical communication with the microprocessor. The display provides a visual indication of portions of the user information selected by the operating software.
Preferably, the memory portion of the microprocessor comprises flash memory and read only memory and the memory of the touch sensor comprises a programmable silicon chip. The user information may include a user identifier, next of kin, role, and medical information unique to the user. The microprocessor also has a data port which is electrically connected to first and second electrical contacts of the receptacle. First and second electrical contacts on each touch sensor are contacted to the first and second electrical contacts of the receptacle, respectively, to read the information stored in the memory of the touch sensor.
In addition, at least one of the touch sensors is a data touch sensor having user information on a unique group of users stored in the memory. The data touch sensor may also have incident data stored in the memory. Preferably, immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) devices will have an IDLH touch sensor mounted thereon. The IDLH touch sensor has IDLH information unique to the specific IDLH device stored in the memory. The IDLH information may include the name of the IDLH device, the rated lifetime of the IDLH device, the remaining lifetime of the IDLH device, and the time the IDLH device was logged-out for use.
Each instrument includes an operator interface in electrical communication with the microprocessor for controlling operation of the operating software stored in the memory. The operating software includes station, accountability, and sector modes of operation and the operator interface includes a mode button for selecting the mode of operation. The operator interface also includes first and second function buttons and the operating software includes WHO, YES, NO, ADD, OUT, acknowledge (ACK), TIME, and Personnel Accountability Report (PAR) initiation functions, the mode of operation assigning one of the software functions to each of the function buttons. The operator interface further includes a pair of scroll buttons.
The system provides accountability for individual firefighters, firefighting units, and firefighting equipment at a fire scene. User information pertaining to a single firefighter is recorded into the memory of a personal identification touch sensor which will be carried by the firefighter. This is repeated for each firefighter. The firefighters assigned to a firefighting unit log-in to a unit instrument at the start of each work shift by touching their personal identification touch sensor to the receptacle of the unit instrument, whereby the user information is read by the receptacle and stored into the unit instrument memory, forming a unit roster of on-duty firefighters. The unit instrument is carried to the scene of each fire visited by the firefighting unit. While at the fire scene, the officer in charge indicates in the unit instrument memory which firefighters of the unit roster are positioned in a dangerous environment at each point in time. At the end of the work shift, each firefighter logs-out from the unit roster by touching their personal identification touch sensor to the receptacle of the unit instrument. Preferably, data recorded in the memory of the unit instrument is periodically downloaded into a central computer. This may occur immediately after the firefighting unit has left the fire scene, at the end of each work shift, or at some greater interval, depending on the storage capacity of the unit instrument and the frequency and duration of the firefighting incidents.
The unit roster is maintained current by the officer in charge by logging-out firefighters from the unit roster as they individually leave the fire scene and logging-in individual firefighters to the unit roster who are newly arrived at the scene by touching their personal identification touch sensor to the receptacle of the unit instrument. When the firefighter""s personal identification touch sensor is not available for use, such firefighter may be manually logged-out or logged-in with the unit instrument user interface. When a firefighter is manually logged-in, the software assigns a unique guest to each such firefighter.
Periodically, a personnel accountability report (PAR) is performed while the firefighting unit is at the scene of each fire to verify the location of each firefighter of the unit roster. During the PAR, the officer in charge indicates in the unit instrument memory the identity of each firefighter of the unit roster who cannot be located at the time of the PAR.
The officer in charge also indicates in the unit instrument memory which firefighters of the unit roster have IDLH equipment assigned to them. This is accomplished by scrolling through the unit roster with one of the scroll buttons until the identifier of the firefighter appears in the unit instrument display. Touching the IDLH touch sensor mounted on the IDLH equipment to the receptacle of the unit instrument causes the IDLH information stored thereon to be read by the receptacle, correlated with the record of the firefighter whose identifier is shown in the display, and stored into the unit instrument memory. Preferably, the IDLH information includes the remaining useful lifetime of the IDLH device and the unit instrument software initiates a timer routine which counts-down the remaining useful lifetime and provides at least one indication as the count-down approaches the end of such useful lifetime.
When multiple firefighting units are present at the fire scene, one of the firefighting units is designated as the command unit and the unit instrument of the command unit is designated as a central accountability instrument. Each of the other firefighting units is designated as a sector unit and the unit instruments of each of the sector units are designated as sector instruments. Each sector unit is logged-in into the central accountability instrument.
To log-in the sector units, the unit roster of each sector instrument is copied into the memory of a data touch sensor by touching the data touch sensor to the receptacle of the sector instrument, whereby the unit roster is read by the data touch sensor and stored in the memory. Touching the data touch sensor to the receptacle of the central accountability instrument causes a unique sector unit identifier and the unit roster information of the sector unit to be read by the receptacle and stored into the memory of the central accountability instrument. The central accountability instrument maintains first level and second level tiers of data. The first level tier includes the unit roster of firefighters who are individually logged-in to the central accountability instrument and the sector unit identifiers of each sector unit logged-in to the central accountability instrument. The second level tier includes the unit rosters of each sector unit logged-in to the central accountability instrument.
Changes in the information stored in the sector instruments is communicated to the central accountability instrument. Preferably, such communication is performed periodically by the sector instrument software via a transmitter/receiver contained in each unit instrument.